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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Today we celebrate the Feast Day of St. Matthias the Apostle. He was not among the first twelve Apostles of Jesus, but was a substitute for Judas Iscariot who committed suicide after betraying Jesus, decreasing the number of Apostles to eleven. The number twelve was important in Israel because it symbolized the twelve tribes of Israel, the twelve divisions of the priestly order, and the twelve doors of the temple in Jerusalem. The number twelve symbolized completeness and perfection.
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Learn more about our faith | Return to the Church
The disciples said to Jesus, “Now You are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech. Now we realize that You know everything and that You do not need to have anyone question You. Because of this we believe that You came from God.” (John 16:29-30) This reminded me of the reaction of so many people who have heard Father Jonathan Meyer, an Indiana priest, one of fifty commissioned with preaching on Eucharistic Revival themes of Presence, Communion, and Sacrifice.
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Catholic Family Fun | Luminous Mysteries | The Family That Prays Together Stays Together | family prayer
I recently was given a book from Catholic Mom and Holy Cross Family Ministries: The Family That Prays Together Stays Together: A Bead-by-Bead Family Guide through the Mysteries by Fr. Willy Raymond, C.S.C. I was so excited to receive it in the mail and immediately read the introductory chapters.
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Luminous Mysteries | The Family That Prays Together Stays Together | pray the rosary
I’ll admit it—I had to be sold on the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary. I had been praying the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries since I was a child, pleading desperately that my father, an accountant, would be able to make payroll so that we could eat. I relied on that trio of Mysteries for consolation during difficult times. It was difficult for me to imagine branching off into praying a new set of Mysteries. But I realized that Pope John Paul II must have had good reason to add something to what I considered to be the perfect form of prayer. I had to trust in the Holy Father’s judgment on this.
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Rosary with kids | family prayer | pray the rosary
“All good giving and every perfect gift is from above.” (James 1:17) We receive countless gifts from God in our lives, from food, clothing, and shelter, to the graces He gives us each day. When we are counting our blessings, do we remember to return blessing and adoration to God? The prayer of blessing and adoration is one of the five forms of prayer designated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (blessing, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, and praise) — the form in which we worship God or invoke His grace.
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Learn more about our faith | Why pray?
Jesus came down from heaven to unite divinity with humanity, and He returned to heaven to seat humanity at the Father’s right hand. This is breathtaking, no more than that; it is the grandest surprise of all. God has astonished us with this revelation; He wants us to share in His very life through Christ our Lord, His only begotten Son.
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